Collections : [West Virginia and Regional History Center]

Typed copy of the Forks of Cheat Baptist Church Minute Book, 1775-1830.

A typed history of the Forks of Cheat Baptist Church along with a typed copy of a minute book, 1775-1830.

Papers of the administration of the Foulke family's lands on the Meadow River, principally in Fayette County but also including land in Nicholas and Greenbrier counties. The acquisition of large tracts of land by this prominent Philadelphia family in what is now southern West Virginia began in the 1780s with the partnership of Jeremiah Warder and Richard Parker. In the 1840s, nearly 3/4 of this land (estimated at around 40,000 acres) came under the control of William Parker and later his nephew, William Parker Foulke. The collection, which contains correspondence, deeds, agreements, land surveys and descriptions, and legal documents dating primarily from the 1840s and 1850s, concerns the Foulke family's efforts to protect its claims and to sell or lease tracts of land. The period from 1845 to 1854 appears to have been an especially contentious one for competing land claims in the area. Much of the administration of this land was undertaken by the family's agents, especially James C. Warren, or through correspondence with such lawyers as Samuel Price.